Wear plates are used in the mining industry to protect the interior shell of a grinding mill.
The discharge end of a grinding mill is typically protected with a wear plate (often referred to as a “grate plate” or “wear liner”) which incorporates a grouping of discharge holes for allowing ore of a sufficiently processed size to pass through corresponding openings provided in the end of the grinding mill. Conventional wear plate designs are typically formed of a heavy metal plate with the discharge holes extending longitudinally along the length of the plate. However, such conventional plate designs are prone to premature wear and require continuous cleaning due to the through holes becoming blocked during operation. It will be appreciated that frequent wear plate replacement and/or cleaning can greatly impact on the productivity of the mill.
Wear plates have been proposed which incorporate rubber inserts that are better at withstanding abrasion and impact forces than the conventional metal wear plates described above. An example of such a wear plate design is described in French Patent FR2615410 whereby wear plates are provided with one or more centrally located rubber inserts which are press-fitted into a surrounding steel casing. However, such wear plates still require frequent replacement due to the outer casing wearing before the rubber inserts. Another disadvantage with the design disclosed in FR2615410 is that the press-fit fastening arrangement is not appropriate for the substantial forces imparted on the wear plate during operation.